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Will a claw hammer work as a makeshift "wedge puller?"

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TOTW has a brass wedge punch - just for grins I ordered one. It's a neat little tool that lets you gently tap the wedge out.
I filed a notch on one side of mine and use that to knap a flint while in the lock.
View attachment 40598
just curious, what was the price? I rely like the looks of it. I didn't know that such a devise existed? I took a wooden dowel and filed down one end to a wedge and use that it also works great.
 
I have a file that I cut to about 6" and the tail to about 1.5". The tail is ground into a wedge punch and the file for sights etc. Goes right in the shooting box.
 
A hammer is not the method! I use a piece of hardwood. A half of a clothespin works, but I like something longer for my feeble fingers to grab. Squeezing the barrel and stock together as mentioned earlier is also a help.
Flintlocklar 🇺🇸
 
I think a claw hammer, used as you would for pulling nails, would likely scratch up your escutcheon plates and probably dent the wood. It would probably work, but I wouldn't use it.

I think you are better off driving the wedge out, either with a commercial brass tool like the one in post #3, or improvise one of hardwood or plastic. I have used a "leg" from a spring-type wooden clothespin, whittled down a bit as needed, and it worked well.

I would not use a clawhammer for tapping on the drift, either. A wood, rubber, plastic, or rawhide mallet would be the right tool for that job.

It's a lot easier to prevent dents than to fix them.

Good luck!

Notchy Bob
Love that clothespin idea. Thanks. Polecat
 
I built the carriage for my small cannon out of hard Red Oak. There were scraps and trimmings left over, and I tossed all the chunks bigger'n my thumb into a "Someday" box on the theory that someday I might need them again. Took one of the small scraps and trimmed it down with a jackknife and then a file to make a wooden wedge about 2-1/2 inches long and tapered to one end small enough to fit into the wedge plate slots on both of the rifles that use wedges and a couple of the pistols too. It even works for starting the barrel wedge of a caplock revolver.
Works fine for taping out steel or brass wedges, doesn't chew up any of the surrounding real estate, and weighs almost nothing. I carry it in my little tin box of rifle tools in my hunting pouch. Don't need a hammer or a mallet --- I just tap it with the butt end of my knife handle, but a chunk of fire wood or a small stone would serve.
 
crescent-specialty-hand-tools-56-64_1000.jpg :D
 
😂
There's always gotta be one in the crowd!

LOL. My dad's neighbor did that with his mailbox. Duct taped it to the mounting pole. It's held up a few years so far.

I greatly appreciate all the replies and suggestions and love to converse with good people, be that online or otherwise. I may end up getting a TC puller but plan to do something like the clothes pin for now. Thank ya'll so much!
 
LOL. My dad's neighbor did that with his mailbox. Duct taped it to the mounting pole. It's held up a few years so far.

I greatly appreciate all the replies and suggestions and love to converse with good people, be that online or otherwise. I may end up getting a TC puller but plan to do something like the clothes pin for now. Thank ya'll so much!
Ah, inside joke. I actually duct taped a side mirror on my car. Hard to come by and it worked until summer when the weather warmed. Then I glued it with a Bu## load of hot glue and it held for years.
 
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